This invention relates generally to a method for identifying bullets which have been discharged from firearms and more particularly to a method for tracing purchasers of bullets from some indicia recovered with them.
Present day control measures generally provide detailed information on firearm owners through registration and serial numbers, but these controls omit records of the bullets purchased. Although a bullet may be traced to a firearm owner by recognized ballistic tests, such tests require that the tester have possession of the firearm and, also, that the recovered bullet be intact. The identity of the firearm owner may be difficult, if not impossible, to discover in most cases and, accordingly, the testing of his firearm for ballistic information would be difficult. Without adequate control and documentation of the sale of bullets, the effectiveness of firearm registration remains minimal.
Until now, means for control of the manufacture, sale, and possession of bullets and cartridges have not been available and this ammunition is generally sold without adequate records being kept on the purchaser or the items purchased. Advocates for the possession of firearms by the general public have recognized a need for strict controls over the manufacture, sale, and possession of ammunition as well as over firearms. However, such control measures, to be of practicle use to law enforcement personnel, must allow the accurate determination of identifying indicia from recovered bullets, and, therefore, the indicia must not only follow the projectile to its destination, but must remain intact for later analysis.